Lolita

Stanley Kubrick series

“How did they make a movie out of Lolita? teased the print ads of this Stanley Kubrick production. The answer: by adding three years to the title character's age. The original Vladimir Nabokov novel caused no end of scandal by detailing the romance between a middle-aged intellectual and a 12-year-old nymphet. The affair is cleansed ever so slightly in the film by making Lolita a 15-year-old (portrayed by Sue Lyon). In adapting his novel to film, Nabokov downplayed the wicked satire and sensuality of the material, concentrating instead on the story's farcical aspects.

“James Mason plays professor Humbert Humbert, who while waiting to begin a teaching post in the United States rents a room from blowzy Shelley Winters. Winters immediately falls for the worldly Humbert, but he only has eyes for his landlady's nubile daughter Lolita. The professor goes so far as to marry Winters so that he can remain near to the object of his ardor.

“Lolita is never dull, nor does it ever stoop to the sensationalism prevalent in the film's ad campaign.” - New York Magazine